10-year-old girl fined for downloading music

A Finnish antipiracy watchdog has fined a tween for attempting to download music files by pop star Chisu.

Today parents may face fines if their children illegally download music or films online.
Image: Suvi Rajala / Yle

The Copyright Information and Anti-Piracy Centre said it had settled the matter with the girl's father. During negotiations the original fine of 600 euros was halved.

The girl was caught during a crackdown by the organisation last autumn, when it set up trackers that flagged 28 Finnish personal computers. One of the intercepted home internet protocol (IP) addresses belonged to a family in Helsinki. The father claimed that the machine was mainly used by the family’s nine-year-old daughter. Police later confiscated the home computer in an attempt to determine who actually used it.

Finns pay around a million visits to international file-sharing sites every month, according to the Anti-Piracy Centre.